He Really Pounds It Out

The fourth quarter was all A&M. Franklin kicked field goals of 48, 25, 51 and 39 yards, Linebacker Roderick Reed returned an intercepted pass 25 yards for a touchdown, and Franklin 's kick made the final score 33-17, Texas A&M .

"Great teams overcome injuries," said Sloan . "Poor field position in the second half hurt us worse than anything else. Because of it, we were limited in the things we could do."

"Tech was tough in the middle," said Walker, who played the fourth quarter with an injured pinky on his passing hand. "We had problems all night in the middle. It was a fight. It was the toughest fight I've ever been in."

Woodard, who had averaged 5.5 yards per carry in the first two games of the season, averaged 3.27 against Tech (59 yards on 18 carries) and insisted he had been only 75% of his usual self. Dickey, who had been averaging 8.98 per carry, averaged less than 3.0 Saturday night, but caught six passes for 117 yards.

The Aggies have another road trip this weekend, to Ann Arbor for a collision with Michigan before the usual Michigan Stadium crowd of 100,000-plus.

"Against Michigan I'll definitely be 100%," said Woodard. "We want it bad. We want to be No. 1 in the nation."

What a 270-pound fullback wants, he usually gets. And so does a 280-pound fullback.